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United States Patent | 5,557,887 |
Fellows ,   et al. | September 24, 1996 |
A garage door operator which senses obstructions and takes corrective action before entrapment can occur. Yieldable gears are utilized as a failsafe mechanism such that when the applied torque exceeds certain limit, the gears disengage so that the garage door can be manually moved. The yieldable gears may also be disengaged by remote control or by hand. Solid state circuitry is provided to achieve soft starts and stops of the electric motor. Test circuitry is provided that tests the operational readiness of the electrical components by simulating an abnormal torque condition. During operation of the electric motor, the torque load is electronically calculated and if an abnormal torque load is encountered, the electric motor reverses direction.
Inventors: | Fellows; Jerry W. (4950 John Muir Rd., Martinez, CA 94553); Sherlock; Thomas M. (Los Altos Hills, CA); Davis; Richard S. (Palo Alto, CA) |
Assignee: | Fellows; Jerry W. (Martinez, CA) |
Appl. No.: | 330479 |
Filed: | October 28, 1994 |
Current U.S. Class: | 49/28; 49/139; 49/199; 49/360; 160/188; 318/807; 340/515 |
Intern'l Class: | E05F 015/20 |
Field of Search: | 49/28,26,139,140,360,199,200 318/807,798,727 160/188,189 324/1 NQ 340/514,515 |
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